The Gun
The Gun is the fifteenth episode of the sixth season in this television sitcom on Family Matters, which was aired from ABC on February 10, 1995. It was directed by John Tracy and written both by Joseph Cvar and Gary Menteer. Plot In one of the series' most serious episodes, gang leader Toni Procopio and her friends brutally beat Laura up, and steal her jacket. After being arrested and let out on bail, Toni pulls a gun on Laura outside the school, and warns Laura to not testify. Laura, scared for her life, decides she needs to buy a gun for self-defense, even though Urkel begs her to reconsider. But then, just moments before Laura can go through with the gun purchase, Toni shoots Laura's friend Josie in the arm, because she refused to give Toni her shoes. Now Josie and her mother are thinking about moving out of Chicago, but Carl and Harriette don't think that's the solution to the problem. Harriette vows that no one will run the Winslows out of their home. Fortunately, the Winslows and Steve start "Save a Life, Turn In Your Gun" and Steve does a rap about saving your life by turning in a gun or other weapons. Synopsis After school, Laura, Josie, Maxine and Waldo talk about going to the mall. They ask Laura if she wants to come, but she turns down the offer due to her homework and studying. After saying their goodbyes, Laura proceeds to her car to go home, but is stopped by gang member Toni Procopio. Toni compliments Laura on her new leather jacket she is wearing and then tells her she can get another one and to give up hers. Laura refuses and insults Toni. This angers Toni, causing her to whistle for her two gang friends and threatens to rip Laura's jacket off of her back if she doesn't give it to her. Laura refuses again and tries to leave but gets beaten up by Toni and her goons and gets her jacket stolen. Later on at home, Laura is being nursed by her family who is concerned about what happened. Carl reprimands Laura for putting herself in danger like that and for not giving up her jacket and tells her that her life is worth more than that jacket. After revealing it was Toni who took her jacket, Eddie then reveals Toni's infamous reputation at school. Carl then asks Laura for Toni's description and tells her that he's going to arrest her. Steve then comes running in with a stuffed animal and flowers trying to comfort Laura. The next day, Steve has made himself Laura's bodyguard (much to her annoyance), hassling anyone coming in her direction, including other students. Everything is fine until Laura and Steve run into Toni and her goons again. Toni is angry at Laura for getting her arrested and Laura tells her that she deserved it. After she and her goons trade insults with Steve, Toni then pulls out a gun and threatens to shoot Laura if she testifies against her. Days later, Laura and Maxine are complimenting Josie on her new tennis shoes. Laura then asks Josie what if someone tries to steal them. Josie responds that she is not scared and shows her gun to Laura, also telling her if she had one she would still have her jacket. Maxine and Josie leave and then Steve comes to check on Laura. He reveals that Laura didn't even tell Carl or Harriette about Toni pulling a gun on her. They are then approached by fellow classmate Bobby, who knows about Toni harassing Laura. He tells Laura she needs to defend herself and shows her his gun collection in his car trunk. Urkel tells Bobby that it's against the law to have those guns at the school demands he get rid of it. He refuses, stating that he had also witnessed that Toni and her gang are not intimidated by Steve because unlike a gun, he can be taken advantage of due to his nerdy status. Bobby also mentions to Urkel that the money the students pay to buy his guns are to pay for law school. Much to Steve's dismay and him begging her not to buy it, Laura holds a pistol and asks how much is it. Before Bobby could name a price, they are alerted by a yelling Josie and Maxine and then a gunshot goes off. The students runs in panic as Toni and her gang escapes from the scene. Laura and Urkel runs to the scene to try and help Josie. A hysterical Maxine reveals that Toni picked a fight with Josie and she was shot in the arm for not giving up her shoes. She cries out in remorse because she believed Laura made the right choice in not purchasing a gun and listening to Urkel. He asks Laura to call the ambulance at once and he will try to help make Josie comfortable. After she leaves with a fellow student, Maxine is further worried over what happened. Fortunately, Steve remembers his training in administering first aid by keeping a travel first aid kit on him. After cleaning up the wound, he unfolds his napkin and wraps it around her arm. Urkel uses it as a makeshift tourniquet to keep the blood from going down further her arm until help arrives. Later on at home, Harriette and Carl discuss the traumatic events that happened to Laura and her friends. They discuss how the kids of Laura's generation have a lot more pressures and things to worry about than they did when they were teenagers. Carl asks Harriette about how she felt about Laura's plans to buy a gun from Bobby. She reveals that she is angry because she didn't tell them about the later incident with Toni's gang that could've prevented all of this. Harriette mentions that Laura is one of the most levelheaded members of their family and that she couldn't believe how foolish of a decision she was about to make in buying a gun. Carl convinces her not to go hard on their daughter because he knew how scared she was when she had a gun pulled on her. Harriette isn't convinced and claims she was relieved that Steve was there to stop Laura from buying one before she became another victim of Toni's gang like Josie did. Carl asks about her condition at the hospital. Harriette mentions that Josie's mother told her that her daughter won't have full use of her arm for a while. She also mentions that Josie's mother is thinking about moving out of Chicago after hearing about Josie being shot. However, both Carl and Harriette agree that it's not the solution to the problem at all. They also vow that no one will run the Winslows and their neighbors out of their home. Days later, Laura starts an event at Vanderbilt called Save Your Life, Turn In A Gun. A tough guy refuses after realizing he won't get anything in return. Then, a little boy brings his big brother to turn his gun in. He is hesitant, but then puts the gun in the bin and leaves happily with his sibling while everyone smiles. The cast and crew then share a PSA message saying you should squash gun violence before it even starts. Cast Main * Reginald VelJohnson as Carl Winslow * Jo Marie Payton as Harriette Winslow * Rosetta LeNoire as Estelle Winslow * Darius McCrary as Eddie Winslow * Kellie Shanygne Williams as Laura Winslow * Bryton James as Richie Crawford * Jaleel White as Steve Urkel * Shawn Harrison as Waldo Geraldo Faldo Guest Recurring * Cherie Johnson as Maxine Johnson Guest * Tracey Cherelle Jones as Toni Procopio * Trina McGee as Josie * Ryan Bollman as Bobby * Mailon Rivera as Radio DJ * Raushan Hammond as Latin Club Member * Freddie Prinze Jr. as Tough Guy * Kyndra Joy Casper as Tough Girl #1 * Sonya Haynes as Tough Girl #2 Gallery Tough Guy and Steve Urkel.jpg Toni.JPG save a life turn in your gun.jpg lwthgun.jpg Trivia * Guest appearance are Freddie Prinze Jr. and Trina McGee-Davis * This episode ended with a public service announcement about gun violence by Jaleel White, Kellie Shanygne Williams, Shawn Harrison, Darius McCrary, and the episode's cast. * Steve Urkel recently speaks Chinese. Quotes :Carl: When I was in high school, my biggest fear was that I'd get a pimple the night before the prom. :Harriette: Yeah, but these are different times, Carl. Kids today have so much more to be afraid of, like if the kid who butts in front of the lunch line is carrying a gun. ---- :Urkel: singing Step right up and turn in your gun. The cops are here, so you don't have to run. Everyone knows that guns aren't cool, so turn in yours and don't be a fool. If you don't have a gun, then turn in your knife. We'll take anything to save a life, yeeeeeeow! ---- :Guy: So what do we get for turning in guns, money? :Laura: No, no money. :Guy: Concert tickets? :Laura: No. :Guy: So, what do we get? :Laura: You get your life. ---- Category:Episodes Category:Season Six episodes Category:Season Seven